Wednesday Writing Assignment

I had a bad day recently, the kind of day that makes me feel tired and stupid and ugly and...Well, awkward. I was cursing Life until I remembered a time when those awkward days came fast and furious, days when no matter what I did or didn't do, I felt like a loser. Yes, adolescence! Please, make me feel better by sharing an awkward adolescent moment, one of those "earth-swallow-me-up-NOW!" times forever etched in your brain.

I'll go first.

It was ninth grade, fifth period. I was hungry and my back was sore from toting my textbook-laden backpack all over school the entire morning, carrying extra books that wouldn't fit in the overstuffed bag in my arms. I walked into English class. My desk was near the middle of the room. Justin L. was sitting, as obnoxious, rapidly growing boys are wont to sit, with his legs stretched out into the aisle between the desks. I tripped over his goddamn legs and fell backwards, propelled by the weight of my massive bag, onto my back, papers and other books flying everywhere. Julie L., who sat behind Justin by virtue of alphabetical order, laughed in my face rather than help me pick everything up. Later that year, Julie would announce to every single class that tomorrow was her birthday, even writing it on the board in math class before the teacher arrived. She was a pain.